Bittersweet: Diabetes, Insulin, and the Transformation of Illness

by Chris Feudtner

Book Overview

One of medicine's most remarkable therapeutic triumphs was the discovery of insulin in 1921. The drug produced astonishing results, rescuing children and adults from the deadly grip of diabetes. But as Chris Feudtner demonstrates, the subsequent transformation of the disease from a fatal condition into a chronic illness is a story of success tinged with irony, a revealing saga that illuminates the complex human consequences of medical intervention...

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0807827916
• ISBN13: 9780807827918
• Release Date: May 2003
• Publisher: University of North Carolina Press
• Length: 320 Pages
• Weight: 1.40 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.0" x 6.1" x 9.3"

Customer Reviews

A great book for medical and non-medical readers

This book describes the transformation of diabetes from a rapidly-fatal illness to a chronic one with a host of new associated problems. Though written by a physician, the book focuses on this transformation from patients' perspectives. In addition, it emphasizes the impact of diabetes on not just the health of individuals but also on their day-to-day lives.The highlight of this book is the collection of stories of individual patients and families. Drawing from letters and other patient records at the Joslin Diabetes Center in Boston, Feudtner vividly details the lives of diabetic patients in the 20th century. Of particular interest is a patient who corresponds with his physicians using self-drawn cartoons, a number of which are included in the book.While this book will be of special interest to diabetic patients and physicians, I recommend it to any reader intersted in the interplay between modern medicine and the people it aims to serve.